Dental News - Aussie researchers develop pioneering biocompatible 3-D technology

Dental Tribune International

Thu. 21. April 2016

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BRISBANE, Australia: Australian researchers are currently working on developing a new 3-D bioprinting technology to produce bespoke engineered bone and gingival tissue that can be implanted into the jawbone. If successful, the new procedure would be less painful for patients and have a lower risk of rejection than traditional bone and tissue grafts taken from parts of the body.

The groundbreaking technology, which is currently being developed as part of a three-year study at Griffith University, promises to grow missing bone and tissue from the patient’s own cells. After scanning the affected jaw, a specialised bioprinter is used to fabricate the supporting structures, such as bone, the periodontal ligament and tooth cementum, in one single process, explained Prof. Saso Ivanovski from the university’s Menzies Health Institute Queensland.

The new technology would be a significant improvement over traditional methods, which entail removing bone and tissue from other parts of the body, such as the hip and occasionally the skull, via surgery.

“By using this sophisticated tissue engineering approach, we can instigate a much less invasive method of bone replacement,” Ivanovski remarked. Using structures grown from the cells of the patient also diminishes the risk of rejection and allows the new structure to grow into its surrounding tissue. “At the end of the whole process, you wouldn’t be able to identify what is old bone and new,” he said.

Another advantage of the procedure is that patients from remote locations would not have to travel long distances to visit major clinics for an invasive procedure. Instead, they could have a CT scan of the damaged region done in a regional centre, which could then be sent to a 3-D bioprinter to manufacture a replacement.

The new technology is currently in preclinical trials, and Ivanovski and his team hope to be able to apply this Australian first in humans within the next one to two years.

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